Zoop Presents: The Whistling Skull - Special Edition Hardcover

by Tony Harris, B. Clay Moore, Dave McCaig, Wes Abbot

The definitive edition of this out-of-print classic is here!

Originally released as a JSA Liberty Files six-issue series by DC Comics, the story has now been updated, re-establishing it as it was originally envisioned by the creators.

$21,835

supported of $10,000

197

supporters

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EXPLORE OUR Rewards

$25

Digital copy

20 claimed

PDF, now expanded to 168 pages!

$50

Hardcover

98 claimed

8.5 x 11 Hardcover, now expanded to 168 pages!

$75

Signed Hardcover

21 claimed

8.5 x 11 Hardcover, now expanded to 168 pages! Signed by B. Clay Moore & Tony Harris

$100

Remarqued Hardcover

58 / 60 claimed

8.5 x 11 Hardcover, now expanded to 168 pages! Signed by B. Clay Moore & Tony Harris, with a one-of-a-kind sketch by Tony Harris drawn onto the bookplate.

$75

EVERYTHING Bundle

5 claimed

Hardcover, Two 8x11 high quality art prints, pin & vinyl sticker

$300

Head Sketch by Tony Harris

6 / 11 claimed

8.5 x 11, pencil, ink, greywash of any character of your choice!

$75

Retailer Bundle - ALL COPIES SIGNED

5 claimed

3 Hardcovers at 50% off retail pricing. All copies signed by Moore & Harris. In order to qualify for this reward, you must be able to provide proof that you are a retailer upon request.

$670

Retailer Bundle + In-store signing event!

25 Hardcovers at a special discount (shipping included) + Tony and Clay in-store signing (travel expenses to be sorted later)

Tip Jar

10 claimed

Support this project and earn our gratitude!

ADD-ONS

Add ons are only available once you have selected at least one Primary Reward listed above.

$500

Whistling Skull Coffin Box!

0 / 1 claimed

1 of 7 in existence. 13x7x4.5. Hand constructed, painted and weathered by Tony Harris. Tony has one, Clay has one, 4 went to DC editorial, and this one remains. Was originally made to house the original series pitch containing Clay text pieces, series overview, props and trinkets hand made by Tony related to the property. It will have Tony's signature.

$25

Two Art Prints

1 claimed

Two 8 x 11 high quality giclees. Scroll down to PRINTS / SKETCHES to see in greater detail

Pin & Vinyl Sticker

8 claimed

3 x 3, Skull Logo

UNAVAILABLE

$300

Head Sketch by Tony Harris

14 / 14 claimed

8.5 x 11, pencil, ink, greywash of any character of your choice!

Story

In a remote village in Switzerland, the townsfolk face a terrible threat. People keep disappearing without warning or explanation, and the authorities are powerless to help. But the secret organization known as the Skeleton is aware that something sinister is going on, and they've dispatched their top agents to investigate: the eerie crimefighter known as the Whistling Skull!

With his assistant Knuckles at his side, the Skull can draw on the benefits of decades of crimefighting to uncover what's happening in the village. But this is not the same hero who went on all of those adventures. The last Whistling Skull disappeared after fighting side-by-side with the heroes of his generation, and though his predecessor has the memories and skills of every man who has come before him...he's never been on a mission before.

Can the new Whistling Skull prevail when faced with pure evil? Or will the horrors that were inflicted on the village soon spread to the entire world?

From an Entertainment Weekly review:

The Whistling Skull is at once a throwback to pulp fiction of the 1930s and 1940s (think Doc Savage and Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu novels) and a witty, grim and poignant tale.

The Whistling Skull and his sidekick, Knuckles, are actually William Massey and Nigel Singleton, Brit boyhood friends who’ve grown up to fight Nazis and other criminals in 1940s Europe. Tony Harris, who has done such marvelous artwork on books including DC’s Starman, is superb (along with colorist Dave McCaig) at conjuring up foggy menace, using dark greens, grays, and sallow yellows as his primary colors to (barely) illuminate figures drawn with lantern jaws and thick bristly eyebrows of determination.

B. Clay Moore’s script has The Whistling Skull roaming Europe driving a gigantic Art Deco auto dubbed The Battlewagon. Skull and Knuckles out of costume are like creations born of a cross between Arthur Conan Doyle and P.G. Wodehouse. The mysteries are well thought-out; the humor is boisterous; the crime-fighting is bone-crunching.

***These characters were originally brought into the DC Comics universe through the JSA Liberty Files: The Whistling Skull series, but the story has been tweaked for this Zoop campaign by Moore and Harris, re-establishing the world of the Whistling Skull (and Knuckles) as originally intended.

Preview

For this new collection, we've added some brand new characters, dialogue and lettering, and original series colorist Dave McCaig tweaked the color to guarantee the art leaps off the page the way we want it to when printed! Check it out:

Prints / Sketches

Two 8x11 Art Prints

Sample Head Sketches by Tony Harris:

Cover Process

Tony Harris describes how he created a brand new cover for this collection:

"I started with my 2 models in full costume and we did a very involved photo shoot. I had a really clear idea for what i wanted to achieve, so it was really about the lighting, props and “The Gag”. We shot until i felt everything was spot on. Then i produced a detailed drawing working out any problems in the composition and infusing the character’s personality into the illustration. Then, after coating illustration board with grey gesso I could blow up my drawing to 20x 30 and transfer to the board. Then i moved onto tightening up the drawing adding in all the darks and blacks and airbrushing all the color with transparent acrylic paint. And completing the art with color pencils for all the medium and lighter tones and a final pass for absolute whites and special effects, before sealing with a matte varnish."

Bios

B. Clay Moore is a comic book writer who first achieved notoriety as the writer and co-creator of Hawaiian Dick, first published in 2002 by Image Comics. Since then, he has co-created Battle Hymn with Jeremy Haun, The Expatriate with Jason Latour for Image Comics and The Leading Man, also with Jeremy Haun, for Oni Press. Moore has also written for Marvel, DC, Slave Labor Graphics, Top Cow, Archie, Lion Forge, Devil's Due and Viz, among others.

Tony Harris is a comic book artist, known for his work on series such as Starman, Iron Man and Ex Machina. He has been nominated for nineteen Eisner Awards and has won two -- in 1997 for Best Penciller/Inker Team (with Wade Von Grawbadger) for Starman, and in 2005 for Best New Series (with Brian K Vaughan and Tom Fesiter) for Ex Machina.

Stretch Goals

Example of Tony Harris' comprehensive notes and rough sketches (perfect for 'process junkies'!)

Timeline

Zoop will be working closely with the creators to make sure everything stays as on schedule as possible and rewards get delivered in timely manner. All of the files are ready for print, including the pages that were tweaked to remove the DC characters that were in the book's previous iteration. We plan on getting all of the post-campaign data & pledges sorted in late December, and then heading to the printers at the very beginning of 2023. Printing and shipping should take around three to four months from that point, so delivery of rewards is expected to be done around May 2023.

The pandemic has shown that certain conditions are simply out of anybody’s hands. However, Zoop will always be here to communicate with backers should any delays occur, if there’s confusion about delivery, or if any other concerns pop up.

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